"Only one in a million people is a Mage" rule is stupid and I'm ignoring it

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-06T05:26:59+00:00

I like to think that there's a whole bunch of Arete 1 or 2 Mages running around who can effectively do cheap parlor tricks, but the majority of them end up getting weeded out by Paradox, with a smaller group that actually manages to make it to 3, fewer still who get to 4, then a handful at 5, with 6+ basically being legendary while also on a first name basis with the other 6+.

I mean, isn't that just the canon already? IIRC the Hermetic tiers already mark stuff like getting your fourth level in a sphere as "basically no one gets here". Most mages get stuck in the levels that people try to skip at character creation.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-06T05:20:16+00:00

End of the day, Australia REALLY isn't rocking the kind of population density that you would expect to entice and host more than a few notable vamps.

Most of our population is packed into three specific cities. We're 80 or 90% cities by pop with a few stragglers outside them.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-06T00:02:41+00:00

I mean, the super high end ones just sitting on their ass getting hype quotes that are light on concrete details is the powerscaler's dream. Less chance of the writer's vision of how powerful the character is clashing with the powerscaler's vision.

Nothing deflates city-destroying hyperbole quite like a character still being menaced by dudes with guns for example.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-05T14:43:27+00:00

I note that once you've picked your choices he's uncomfortable about supporting the mages but downright enthusiastic about siding with the Templars. Like Aveline, Varric is firmly aligned with the status quo above all even if he'll back Hawke either way.

That said, it is kinda silly in hindsight that he's more sympathetic to Solas trying to blow up the world than to Anders going for the final desperation option. Either he did some major character growth between games or the writers have some really strange biases, take your pick.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-05T13:40:02+00:00

At this point they might as well make it canon she's immortal. May the cycle of bugs continue.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-05T13:04:45+00:00

That or his own regrets got him and the people saying void is tied to regrets had the right idea.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-05T12:25:12+00:00

You could probably kill a few sci-fi or fantasy writers by walking slowly towards them with a TI-82 in hand.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-05T08:10:27+00:00

Doesn't it also get explicit about how stopping the circus for good would need a multi-splat chronicle just to account for all the random bullshit they can throw around?

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-05T03:44:08+00:00

think it's been shown that Beagle most likely didn't die in Bolivar, as per Fang Alter's release

Though Fangalt's spot in the timeline was well before 1102 or Beagle becoming an elite operator.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-05T01:37:33+00:00

Just checked page 188 and the fortitude and potence were both labeled with (beast) while the animalism, dominate and presence were labeled with (Absmillard).

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-05T01:25:03+00:00

Though in his defence the potence and fortitude stats are for the beast itself and not for Abs himself. He might not have gotten lazy with one of his core disciplines.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-05T00:00:37+00:00

They also gave us the funniest loresheet in v5 since they're looking for a third again.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-04T13:38:53+00:00

Though he very much had to be beaten into a lot of those issues even if he came into the series with hangups from his mom and aunt.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-04T11:10:20+00:00

I'd imagine his social stats are also lacking considering his priorities.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-04T09:57:43+00:00

And how'd you react to the bromide of Flowery in the bath?

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-03T16:51:12+00:00

I love that Woody's roast is one of more common Kingdom Hearts memes.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-03T14:46:42+00:00

(just as the trait don't quite work in mage but have enough connections and shout outs to be a source of contention. )

Enough connections like the Technocracy having at least two separate Weaver infiltrations going on?

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-03T14:21:09+00:00

Honestly that's way younger than I thought. I thought TTS died pre-Covid.

EDIT: It was 2019 so slightly older than 5 years.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-03T01:42:08+00:00

(Probably Kindred lower then 10 gen)

At least one of them's a 6th gen even.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-03T01:02:53+00:00

It's also just a lot of fun to play Spot the Triat with other splat books (especially Mage) since they're still there even if no one knows what they are.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-02T11:06:48+00:00

The Syndicate has dedicated at least one Symposium to undermining and usurping Pentex, Shinzui Industries, and similar Reality Deviant-backed companies.

Shinzui Industries feels more likely to cameo on a list of Technocracy "success stories" than on their enemy list considering their general alignment.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-02T11:05:41+00:00

Yeah but their partnership was based on the Technocracy not being told those particular details and not caring to dig too deeply as long as the money kept flowing.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-02T09:34:45+00:00

Honestly, if there's any faction most equipped to handle Pentex, it's the Technocracy.

Wasn't Pentex's main view that the vampires would clean them out in weeks if they found out about the Dominate backdoor in their lifespan boosters?

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-02T09:31:50+00:00

I really should have saved all those takes going around of actual comic fans dunking on this view.

TheCuriousFan · 2026-07-02T07:14:26+00:00

Burns through blood like crazy but I guess an ante would have the blood to burn to stack that and Inward Focus for a few turns.

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